Incessant LAUTECH strike turns student to soap manufacturer

The protracted strike at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, which invariably paralysed every academic activity on the campus since May 6, has turned a 300-level Mechanical Engineering student of the University, Olutoba Olayiwola to a manufacturer of soap.

Olayiwola, whom our reporter came across on Thursday in the Osogbo metropolis said the frustration and danger inherent in staying idle at home for months prompted him to think outside the box and went into manufacturing of dish washing soap.

According to him, the first phase of the strike, which spanned a period of 9 months from June 13, 2016 till February 20, 2017 compelled him to start a thorough research for the technique of soap-making.

“I have learnt through my experience of life that learning does not end up in classroom, one must learn squarely, this is the mindset that propelled me to learn the science of soap-making when academic activities came to a halt on our campus due to incessant strike.

“You know, I believe government and other stakeholders in the education sector do not know the serious danger embedded in idleness, especially for energetic youths like us, it exposes and pushes young people to all sorts of social vices, it is simply catastrophic.

“It is against this backdrop that I devised means of making good use of my precious time, and prepare my self for a better future, I believe my life must not be blindly tied to a frustrating system.

“The 9-month of stay-at-home order by our lecturers, between June 2016 and February 2017 afforded me the opportunity to embark on comprehensive research to acquire a distinct knowledge of soap-making at a research firm in Ibadan.

“Upon resumption in February this year, after spending 9 months at home, and with satisfactory knowledge of soap-making, I stumbled on a motivational book, titled” Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written by Robert T. Kiyosaki.

“Obviously, reading this book marked a turning point in my life, it ignited a profound zeal of entrepreneurship in me, which I transformed into reality during the on-going phase of strike that kick started on May 6”, Olayiwola stressed.

He described his product as distinctly creative, with addition of new adhesive like Aloe-vera.

“My product, which I called “Full Moon” is specifically conceptualised to give different feelings to dish washing soap,as it comes with Aloe-vera.

Olayiwola, however called on government to help and encourage indigenous manufacturing firms to grow, in order to strengthen the real sector of Nigerian economy, as he enjoined youths to be creative.